


A Man with a Soul

by wandering_yoshida



Category: SOMA (Video Game)
Genre: Character Death, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-10-05 20:12:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10316078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wandering_yoshida/pseuds/wandering_yoshida
Summary: Note 1: Originally posted under https://lightyear-distance.tumblr.com/post/150297668440/a-man-with-a-soul on September 12, 2016Note 2: I realized after writing this that Akers' canon eye color might rather be blue than brown. I thought the Strasky-blue / Akers-brown combo works well though, and the faceclaim I use for Akers has brown eyes. Sorry!





	

„How can you be so calm about this shit? We are dying!”

„How much air have you guys got?”

„Twenty minutes, tops.”

„Hey, I’m in red. Seconds away before the CO2 gets me.”

„Strasky...”

„Why wait, right? I’m the master of my own fate.”

„Wait, Strask, what are you doing?”

\-----

Saint Wenceslas Square, nighttime. Peter Strasky was sitting on the edge of the fountain in front of the Prague National Museum. He recognized that moment, it was a childhood memory; he was there with his parents, but now they were nowhere to be seen. Was this the past, or was it a dream? It was getting late and there were still people and cars on the streets, but he still felt very much alone.

Suddenly, a man sat next to him. The tall, slim man, looking like he’s in his fifties, maybe older, put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it up quickly with a zippo. He inhaled, then blew out some smoke. His big brown eyes stared into nothing, the wind blew his silvery dark hair a bit. The smoke dissipated in the air.

„Hey.”

Strasky, who was looking at the ground below him and didn’t notice the man until that moment, now turned to look at the source of the short greeting.

„Terry?” Strasky’s face brightened and he couldn’t help but smile. The older man smiled back at him, then turned his face away, to stare into nothing again.

„Yup, it’s Terry”, the man said. Strasky looked confused.

„Wait... when… how did you?”

„Peter… I am terribly, terribly sorry. I am really sorry for all the things I did.”

„What’s wrong, Terry?”

„You don’t remember anything, do you?”

Akers put out the cigarette, stood up, threw the butt into a nearby bin, then sat back next to the younger man. Meanwhile, Strasky started to remember some of it. Theta ruined, people screaming and running away... Brandon Wan sacrificing himself so the others can get away. Akers comatose in Masters’ office. A monster. A ravaging monster, attacking his friends.

„I do. Terry, that thing… that wasn’t you. That was a monster, not human. I refuse to believe it was you.”

„Peter, I was the monster. I am irredeemable. If I have a soul, it’s beyond salvation now.”

The two man sat in silence for a few moments.

„No soul is beyond redemption, Terry. Especially not yours.”

Akers laughed bitterly. „You don’t even believe in souls, Peter, you told me that yourself. That you think it’s all just electricity in the brain, yadda yadda… maybe you’re right.”

„Well, I mean, it’s an abstract concept… it depends on what you call a soul…”, Strasky tried to explain, then he turned to Akers and looked him in the eye. „Terry Akers, if there is anyone who has a soul, then it is you. I know that for sure.” Strasky’s eyes got teary, and he managed to say his last sentence in a shaky voice.

„You don’t know me, Peter”, Akers responded, a little upset. He took out another cigarette from the pack, and put it in his mouth, but didn’t light it up.

„Does anyone?”

Akers didn’t answer and really thought about what to say to that. In the end, he put the cigarette back into the pack, upside down, and slipped the pack back into his pocket. Then, he came up with the perfect response:

„C’mere, Peter.”

Strasky moved closer to him and held him close, put his hand under Akers’ wool jacket. Strasky’s head was laying on Akers’ chest, and they were snuggled up perfectly.

„I’ve always wanted to be with you, Terry. Things never felt so right.” Strasky deeply inhaled his scent, drinking him in. He never felt so much at peace. Akers placed a little kiss on his temple.

„Ssssh. It’s okay now, Peter. You’re safe with me.”

„I never want to let you go.”

„You don’t have to.”

Strasky turned to face him, his cried-out baby blue eyes looking deeply in Akers’ gleaming brown eyes.

„I love you, Terry.”

Nobody ever said those words to Terry Akers, and he didn’t expect anyone to. But, after all, it was the right time and the right place.

„I love you, too, Peter.”

\-----

Peter Strasky’s lifeless body, with his diving suit’s helmet removed, lied peacefully outside Site Omicron.

**Author's Note:**

> Note 1: Originally posted under https://lightyear-distance.tumblr.com/post/150297668440/a-man-with-a-soul on September 12, 2016
> 
> Note 2: I realized after writing this that Akers' canon eye color might rather be blue than brown. I thought the Strasky-blue / Akers-brown combo works well though, and the faceclaim I use for Akers has brown eyes. Sorry!


End file.
